Official says Nepal rescue botched as hopes fade for missing Israeli

Hopes that an Israeli missing in the Himalayas survived a series of blizzards and avalanches that left dozens dead faded Sunday, as officials accused Kathmandu of mishandling last week’s disaster and response.

Michal Cherkasky, 36, was last seen by survivors of the storm stumbling and struggling to hike in the scenic Annapurna Circuit, Chabad emissary to Nepal Chani Lifshitz told Israel’s Channel 10 news.

The bodies of three Israelis have already been pulled from the mountains by rescue teams, and a dozen more were injured in the disaster.

Nadav Shoham will be buried Sunday before noon in the northern town of Mitzpeh Hoshaya, after his body was flown to Israel Saturday night.

Seven injured Israelis were also flown home on a private plane, arriving Sunday morning. They were taken for treatment to Hadassah Medical Center Ein Kerem in Jerusalem and Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv.

Medical officials said that they were suffering from varying degrees of frostbite, and it was apparent they had gone through a physically and mentally challenging ordeal.

The plane, donated by an Israel businessman, flew out of Kathmandu.

Prof. Avi Rivkind, Hadassah Medical Center’s chief of trauma and emergency medicine, charged Nepalese authorities with mishandling the situation.

Rivkind, who flew to Nepal to administer aid, told Israel Radio Sunday that before patients were transferred for proper care at an American hospital, authorities probably wasted a day or two trying to treat them at a Nepalese military hospital.

He added that the disaster could have been avoided, but authorities failed to warn hikers of the storm even though they knew it was coming.

A survivor also told Israel’s Channel 10 news on Saturday that the situation on the ground was “chaotic” and that the Nepalese airlines were refusing to let Israelis stuck in Nepal fly back sooner.

Tuesday’s storm, which triggered avalanches, struck at the height of the trekking season, catching hikers unaware on their way up to an exposed high mountain pass along the scenic Annapurna Circuit route.

Nepalese officials put the death toll at 43 on Saturday.

At least 19 of the dead are tourists, from countries including Canada, Israel, Poland, Slovakia, India and Vietnam. Three Israelis, Agam Luria, Shoham and Tamar Ariel, died in the blizzard and avalanche. Luria and Ariel were expected to be flown to Israel for burial Monday.

At least 40 Israeli tourists in Nepal remain unaccounted for, including Cherkasky.

Lifshitz, the Chabad emissary, told Channel 10 that they were still hopeful Cherkasky would be found alive.

“We’ve heard stories of people stuck in the snow for two days who survived,” she said.

Earlier, Lifshitz had recounted a meeting with Cherkasky before she left for her trek in the mountains. Cherkasky told her that she was hiking in memory of her friend, who had died during a trek in the Himalayas in 2001.

Cherkasky had decided to fly to Nepal after she received a flight voucher from El Al airlines when she gave up her seat on an overbooked flight, Cherkasky’s mother told Channel 2.

On Saturday, Nepalese officials said all surviving trekkers who were left stranded are now believed to be safe, with 385 people rescued after frantic calls for help.

The focus of search efforts shifted Saturday from rescue to the grim prospect of retrieving more bodies feared to be lying on the popular trekking route, which goes as high as 5,416 meters (17,769 feet).

Nepalese army choppers circled the upper reaches of the popular trekking region to locate bodies on Saturday, while officials arranged to fly in a team of experts from Kathmandu to assist with the operation.

The dead include at least 26 hikers, guides and porters on the trekking circuit, three yak herders, and five people who were climbing a nearby mountain.

AFP contributed to this report.